Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“No.”
He nods. “Call me if you need me.”
“I won’t.”
He nods and takes a couple of long strides until he’s standing next to me. He bends and shocks the hell out of me, leaving me speechless when he presses his lips to my forehead. “Sweet dreams, Charlie.”
He turns and walks out of the room before I can even wrap my head around what just happened, and damn it, he’s still calling me Charlie.
CHAPTER
FOUR
Spencer
My chest aches as my heart hammers like a bass drum. With each step that we take toward the suite the ladies are staying in, the beat intensifies, as does the ache. Lifting my hand, I rub over my heart to try to ease the pain.
It doesn’t work.
I could strangle Lincoln. It’s a good thing he’s not here because I’d kick his ass. Not because he called off the wedding—you have to follow your heart—but Lincoln knew before this morning. His pussy ass was stalling, and now, here we are, standing outside the suite of his now ex-fiancée and her friends and sister to give them the news.
I still might kick his ass when I get home. He should have been man enough to admit this wasn’t what he wanted. Things should never have gotten this far. Lincoln is on my shit list. What’s worse is that Charlotte already hates me. It’s been years, and I don’t know where the hate came from, but it’s there, and this—me being involved in breaking her sister’s heart—is just going to make that hate fester and grow.
I’m definitely kicking his ass when we get home.
“I really don’t want to fucking do this,” Liam says, his head hanging.
Reaching out, I place my hand on his shoulder. None of us wants to do this. That’s why we’re all here. We decided to come as a united front. We don’t agree with how Lincoln handled this situation, and we want the ladies behind that door to know that. We also want them to know that whatever they need, we’re here for it.
“We’re with you,” Ty tells Liam.
He nods, lifts his head and then his hand, and raps his knuckles against the door. I can hear laughter and excited voices behind the door, and my gut twists knowing that we’re about to take that away.
When the door opens, Liam steps into the room. Audrey is immediately on her feet, her eyes locked on Liam, asking what’s wrong as we all file into the room behind him. Liam uses the softest tone I’ve ever heard from him when he tells Audrey that she should sit down.
Stubborn like her sister, she refuses. “Just say it,” she says, and I can already hear in her voice she knows what’s coming.
I think deep down, we all knew that this was coming. Why else would he put his job over his wedding? A wedding that’s been in the works for months? We didn’t want to believe it. I know I didn’t. I was pissed at him putting her second to his career. I told him as much. However, in a million lifetimes, I never imagined he would do this. At least not hours before they were supposed to promise to love each other for a lifetime.
Yeah, definitely going to be kicking his ass when we get home.
The guys and I surround Liam as he breaks the news to Audrey that Lincoln’s not here, and he’s not going to be. He’s a coward. She argues that he was on his way, and I bet a year’s salary he was never on his way. He didn’t drive halfway and turn around.
He lied.
Audrey loses her battle with her tears, and the look on Liam’s face can only be described as devastation. That’s when I realize that he’s in love with her. The way he’s looking at her, the heartache at seeing her tears, he’s crushed that the woman he loves is in pain from his jackass brother. We all know that Liam met Audrey first since he was saving Lincoln’s ass back in the day on their first date. Liam had to cover for him because his ass was running late. He should have whisked her away from that restaurant. The look on his face tells me he’s thinking the same thing. Fury and pain, all wrapped into one. That’s what the younger West brother is feeling at this moment.
Charlotte pulls Audrey from Liam’s arms and hugs her tight. She whispers to her sister as she closes her eyes, and a lone tear trails over her cheek. I tighten my fists at my sides to keep from reaching out and capturing it with my thumb. Lincoln is breaking more than one heart today.
I’ve known Charlotte Krause since our freshman year of college. I’ve seen her pissed, happy, smiling, studious, focused, and determined. I’ve never seen her sad. The sight of that lone tear has all of my protective instincts I didn’t know I had, standing tall.